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This site is dedicated to providing education regarding the LFTR and to advocate it’s consideration and adoption as the prime candidate to secure Singapore’s energy future.

The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR), is a truly revolutionary nuclear technology, it’s birth should have heralded an era of clean, peaceful and incredibly plentiful source of energy to humanity. However it’s future remains uncertain, suppressed by those who would rather profit from inefficient technologies that pollute our planet.

It is a technology that has already been proven, but for unfortunate circumstance nearly half a century ago, remains to this day an obscure process, known only to a few dedicated scientists, engineers and professionals determined to keep alive the promise.

On 2 Feb 2010, the Singapore Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) indicated that Singapore will consider nuclear energy for the future of the country. The announcement included the mention of the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR).

WHAT IS THORIUM

It is the 90th element on the periodic table and is part of the family of elements know as Actinides which are radioactive with a chemical symbol - Th

Thorium has extremely low radioactivity, with a half-life of nearly 14.05 billion years, it is actually safe to handle without radiation shielding in it’s natural form with completely no ill effects whatsoever.

Almost all natural Thorium occurs in the form of Th-232, which is the ideal fuel state for a LFTR.

It is the most energy dense material on earth.

It is extremely plentiful, on average a ton of rock (literally any rock) contains 0.20 ppm (That’s considered a lot compared to 0.05ppm for U-235 the fuel isotope for standard nuclear power plants)

There is enough Thorium in easily extractable forms to power civilization (including it’s growth) for thousands of years, and that’s not even including the refinable sources.

A 100g ball of thorium that fits in the palm of your hand represents all the power a single person needs to live a lifetime (assuming 100 years lifetime).

WHAT IS LFTR

LFTR stands for Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor

It is a revolutionary technology that is descended from the Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) that was created in the 1950s during the dawn of the atomic age.

It is a nuclear reactor design that is completely different from the standard Light Water Reactor (LWR) that we are used to today.

Unlike LWRs, the LFTR is :

Clean and efficient - using nearly 100% of the nuclear fuel in it’s core, compared to just 2%-3% in normal LWRs. This means that it creates only about 0.08% of the nuclear waste and even that can be eventually recycled or safely handled.

Inherently Safe - The nature of the LFTR means it is unable to catastrophically fail (No nuclear meltdown, no massive steam explosions)

No nuclear profiliation - Unlike the LWR, it does not produce excess nuclear material that can be used to make nuclear weapons.

Small and low cost – Because it is so safe, there is no exclusion zone needed and a LFTR plant is small (2000ft²-3000ft², compared to 200,000ft² for LWR) and can be built underground.

WHAT THE DIFFERENT?

Unlike conventional nuclear technologies which we are used to today. The LFTR is different in two major ways.

1) It is fueled by Thorium, which is plentiful, cheap and profiliation resistant, something which no nation will ever need to go to war over because it is everywhere!

2) It is a liquid fuel reactor, unlike current technology which uses solid fuel rods. this is it's greatest strength, it can use up all the fuel put in and produces almost no nuclear waste AND does not emit pollutants!

Because it uses liquid salts as the medium of choice, it can use very efficient power generators (Brayton cycle turbines) that is about 11%-12% more efficient than steam turbines.

Because of the above traits, the LFTR is inherently safe! It has no risk of dreaded nuclear meltdowns or massive steam explosions. In that light, the LFTR needs no safety clearance zone around it, and if that wasn't enough, the small size of the LFTR means it can be built underground.

WHY WAS IT NEVER USE

During the dawn of the atomic age in the 1950s, two competing visions of nuclear energy were born. One was the Uranium fuel cycle, and the other was the Thorium fuel cycle.

At the time the USA and USSR were locked in a nuclear cold war and mass producing nuclear weapons was a priority.

Even though the Thorium fuelled MSR was clearly superior in every aspect, efficiency, safety, low waste production, size and cost of operation. It was abandoned in favor of the Uranium fuelled LMFBR (Liquid-Metal Fast Breeder Reactor) because the latter could produce lots of weapons grade nuclear material, while the MSR could not.

There was talk of internal strife as well, the head of the AEC (Atomic Energy Commission) at the time viewed the LMFBR as his pet project.

In short order, the MSR, and thorium were given highly unfair reviews that painted the MSR in very poor light compared to the LMFBR. Which we know today as totally untrue.

As a result the MSR and it’s wondrous fuel were buried. Never to be spoken of again except by the very few who were involved in it’s development…. until now.